Huawei reveals $2bn cybersecurity spending

Chinese giant wants to convince everyone its hardware can be trusted.

Chinese telecoms giant Huawei has revealed it will be spending more than $2 billion on cybersecurity in the next five years as it looks to improve its image among western countries.

The news was announced during a press conference described by Reuters as “one of its most in-depth” events, where more than two dozen of international journalists attended.

Some western countries, lead by the USA, are locking Huawei out of building their 5G network, saying the company has strong ties with China and is being used by the government for espionage.

Huawei has denied these allegations on multiple occasions, saying there is no evidence whatsoever to support such claims.

“Locking out competitors from a playing field cannot make yourself better. We think any concerns or allegations on security at Huawei should be based on factual evidence,” its rotating chairman Ken Hu said. “Without factual evidence we don’t accept and we oppose those allegations.”

The list of countries that are banning, or considering banning Huawei from their 5G work is growing, and includes the US, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Italy. Germany has allegedly taken a neutral stance.

The US and China are currently engaged in a trade war which has seen ZTE pay a $1bn fine, Huawei’s CFO arrested in Canada, and multiple iPhones banned from sales in China.